Picking Up After
by beebopd
Summary: AU follows until beginning of Deathly Hollows .In a world where Harry has won the war. A story about the next generation of Potters and Weasleys. Join them as they complete their 7 years at Hogwarts and live in a world that is "at peace".
1. Prologue

Author's Notes

I would like to announce that the world and some of the characters are not mine. But since you are reading HP fan fiction you should know that. All other author's notes will be at the end of the chapter.

* * *

It was over, and with that he slid out of consciousness.

* * *

"Hurry, Arthur dear."

"Yes, yes coming Molly"

"Can you believe? It's our seventh grandchild!"

"Yes I know"

"I wonder what her name will be."

"His."

"Pardon me?"

"You said 'her'; the baby is going to be a _him_."

"I meant to say her, I have been right on all counts so far and this one is going to be a girl."

"Yes, and each time I agreed but this time you're wrong."

"That is because before you hadn't read all of those 'I am THE MAN' books that put crazy ideas into your head. Just face it, I am right and the baby will be a girl."

"We shall see then," Arthur muttered as he took a pinch of black powder throwing it into the fire and said clearly, "157 Solstice Boulevard." In a flash he was out of the Burrow and at his son's house. He was out of the fire place and brushing himself off when his wife, Molly, stepped out after him.

"Mum, Dad; it is good to see you. Fred and Becca are in the back room."

"Thank you Charlie."

"Charlie, when are you going to give me a grandchild?"

"Not for a _LONG_ time mum."

"Come on Molly," said Arthur as he dragged his wife away from his second oldest son, "time to see that I am right."

"Of Course, the baby; although I will be the one who is right."

"You'll be right about what?"

"Your father and I have a bet going on about whether it is a boy or a girl, Ron."

"You are both right then," Hermione stated, "they had twins."

"_**WHAT**_?" Molly squealed and practically flew into the back room to see her two knew grandchildren.

"What did they name them?" asked Arthur, who didn't (no matter how pathetic it was) want to be in the room when his wife saw the baby twins for the first time.

Ginny (fleeing from the room) was the one who answered him. "Matthew and Malory."

"Malory is an interesting name."

"Don't let Becca hear you say that," Fred cautioned appearing from the back room, "she took forever picking it out. Well both names actually."

"I expect so… Fred is it safe to be in the same room as your mother yet?"

"No dad, I would give it another five minutes at least. I only just got away." Fred said this in the most dramatic way possible, even mock fainting at the end,

They all laughed at that.

"You would think after six other grandkids she would be slightly _less_ dramatic about it" laughed Charlie.

"Charlie this is her first grand-twins; but more to the point they are _her _grand-twins." This comment brought more laughter out of everybody.

"And let's not forget the first granddaughter came from Ronnie," teased Fred.

"Doesn't anyone ever get tired with bugging me about having the first kid?"

"No," said Fred, Charlie, Ginny, Harry (who hadn't said anything yet), Hermione (even though it was her kid to it didn't bug her), George and Ariel (who had just arrived); all together.

"Humph." In case you are wondering that was Ron.

"No, Percy technically had the first. A boy if I recall," murmured Arthur.

"He hardly counts…" said George.

"…we found out through the Profit…" continued Fred.

"…that big **git,**" they finished together.

"But Cornelius is still older than my Isabella," Hermione argued.

"Yes and Molly fell in love with you, Hermione, having Isabella and Cathrine in a row."

"Bill wrecked it though when he had Wolfgang," supplied Ginny.

"What kind of name is Wolfgang anyway?" Fred pondered.

"What kind of name is Malory?" was George's _witty _retort.

"A name given to a lovely girl," snapped Hermione.

"I wanted to give the come back!" whined Fred.

Glaring daggers at Fred, Hermione continued, "After Wolfgang, Eva was born."

"Yes, she looks like me with Harry's eyes," said Ginny fondly.

"You mean Harry doesn't have his any longer?" Fred and George asked in unison.

Hermione now glaring at Fred _and_ George moved on. "Then Ariel and George had Polly."

"Now there is Matthew and Malory," concluded Ariel.

"'Ello! Where is ze new babe?" called out Fleur who still had a French accent, although her English grammar was flawless (A/N: Unlike mine. I am so jealous).

"Hi Bill, hi Fleur. The _babies _are in the back room." Fred called back.

"Bab_ies_? As in more zen one?"

"Oui," Fred answered.

"I must see!" And with that she became the first person to brave the room since Molly went in (except for poor Becca who has been stuck in there the whole time, of course).

Bill asked for their names first, "their names?"

"Matthew and Malory," Ron answered. He had stopped sulking when Fleur arrived.

"That's not proper names," Fred looked like he was about to hit Bill over the head when he continued, "they should be called Mally and Matty."

Fred just grinned. Then a voice broke the silence.

"Arthur, come and see your new grandkid."

Arthur Weasley smiled sheepishly at everyone and walked out of the room, Fred followed knowing he would be wanted as well.

"Aren't they lovely dear?"

"Yes they are," Arthur said picking them up for the first time. He looked at each of the babies' eyes which are said to be the gateways into a person's soul. Even this early in life the girl's eyes showed the same… 'Creativity' that he saw the first time he looked into Fred and George's eyes and he privately hoped she wouldn't be quite as bad (for the parent's sake). When he looked into the boy's eyes he saw leadership. _This _would be _**very interesting **_to watch them grow up.

Becca looked up from talking to Fred and asked, "May I hold my babies now?"

"Oh, sure I have them for a minute," Arthur teased.

Becca held out her arms and received the two bundles of joy. The new family radiated love and he had no worries for the twins. Then he saw his wife sneaking towards the twins. He chuckled to himself and the new parents looked up questioning him. Maybe he did have one worry for them, _too_ much love, specifically from his wife.

* * *

Author's Notes

I am a Harry Potter freak and proud of it. I will keep writing this even if no one reviews because this is not only my story to you but proof to me I can actually finish a full story. However like any other author I love feedback. Thank you for reading my story's prologue and I will get Chapter 1 up as soon as I type it up (which means I have to heal my wrists from this expedition first).  
Anyways, TTFN, Beebopd


	2. Hogwarts at Last

Author's Notes

I would like to announce that the world and some of the characters are not mine. But since you are reading HP fan fiction you should know that. All other author's notes will be at the end of the chapter.

* * *

"Mom, an owl," shouted an 11-year-old redhead girl with mischievous eyes.

"Would you get the letter for me, Mally?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes!"

Mumbling could be heard as she went to the owl and took off the object of distain.

"Hey!" Mally suddenly yelled, "the letters are addressed to me and Matty!"

"Your letters are here? Really?" Becca came running into the room, "Finally I get to realize one of my dreams; to visit Platform 9 3/4."

"What's up? Did I hear my name in here?" Matty said entering the room.

"We got…"

Mally was cut off by Becca, "your letters came from Hogwarts today!"

"Thanks for letting me finish mom."

"No problem honey. Let's see you will need robes, hats, _gloves_, _**cauldrons**_, _**TELESCOPES**_, _**WANDS!**_… I have to call someone, I am just so excited!" And with that she ran out of the room… with the letters.

"What's with her, I mean-" That is when Matty was cut off by another voice.

"Leaping Lizards, what's wrong with your mom? She was came down the stairs babbling about how excited she was I got scared and ran," said Fred.

The twins just looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"No, honestly what happened?" Fred asked.

"We have no idea-"

"-but it just might have to do with-"

"-our letters," they finished together.

"You got your letters? Congrats! At least it explains the sudden need for your mother to call long distance to Canada."

"Who is she calling?"

"Her family, I would think."

"We have a good idea for the joke shop daddy." (A/N: I too notice the sudden change in conversation)

"Oh, and what is that?"

"Invisible walls-"

"-you set them up and WHAM!"

"That's not half bad you two, I'll tell Uncle George about it later. Uh-oh I smell supper. I am getting lost before Becca finds and recruits me to help her. Don't be late for dinner you two."

"I bet you a knut mum finds dad and makes him help," Mally said.

"No way, I'd lose!"

"Chicken!"

"I wonder if the others got their letters," stated Matty. He was speaking of his cousins, well the seven that should get their letter this year.

"Rub-uh-dub-dub, come get the grub!" called a voice from downstairs.

"We're coming Dad! I told you that he would be found Matty."

"That is why I said no to the bet."

"Race you down stairs!"

"I will win!

"Yeah right."

* * *

Mally's P.O.V.

"So mom, when can we go to Diagon Alley?" I asked.

"Not for a while." What a lame response! I had to protest!

"But…" I started.

"I arranged it with your aunts to go all together that day.

If I got to go shopping with all of my cousins I wasn't going to complain. We were close the six of us but rarely did all of us meet. I felt sorry for Cornelius and Terry. Even though we were cousins I remember seeing them twice and one time it wasn't planned. To make it even worst for them there were no cousins on their mother's side.

Now that mom had a good excuse I couldn't think of anything to say other than, "I see," so that is what I said.

The next week and a half seemed to take for ever and my excitement grew every day. Finally it was the night before and I was so excited that I could hardly sleep. Tomorrow was the day we went to get our stuff, the first day into the rest of our lives… nah, it would just be really fun.

"Wake up Mally we have to get ready," Matty woke me up by bouncing on me and yelling at what seemed like the top of his lungs.

"Huh?" So alert in the morning aren't I?

"Diagon Ally, for school supplies, remember?" Now he was talking to me like an idiot, he was so going to get it. I was immediately wide awake and was able to charge after him down the hall.

"Get your breakfast so we can meet the others, Mally." He saved by mom again, someday I would get that pain in the neck back!

I sat down to inhale my breakfast pausing only long enough to say good morning to dad. I was almost done when the doorbell rang. Mom answered it, which is nothing new, and invited the person in. Matty, which had entered the kitchen looked at me and groaned; now it would be hours before we left.

Peeking around the corner mom asked, "Guess who just came over," I stared blankly at her and I could tell that Matty and dad were doing the same thing because she sighed and said too excitedly for that time in the morning, "Jessie!"

When the silence went on for a _really _long time mom said, "Tough crowd," before exiting to talk to Jessie some more.

Jessie is our neighbour, sort of. Well she doesn't really live beside us but she does live in the neighbourhood and is a close friend of mom's. Aunt Jessie (that is what Matty and I call her) moved to London for two reasons. Reason one; the British news wasn't nearly wacky enough and she simply had to do something about it. Reason two; she was escaping from her family. I always thought she was weird.

After mom talked for forever and a half and Jessie went home, we finally left to go to the Leaky Cauldron. It was packed but mom, who is really tall, spotted Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur and Wolfgang.

The adults launched into an immediate discussion.

"Did you see the article in the Profit?"

"Yes, 'The wizarding world is at peace finally' what a laugh."

While the adults continued in this manner (wow that sounds like Wolfgang), we had a much more interesting conversation.

"This is the best!"

"We get to spend the year without our parents."

"Any good new or developing pranks we might be able to 'ave for 'Ogwarts?" Wolfgang, like his mother has perfect grammar, and a French accent.

"Well daddy said he would develop the vanishing wall idea we had, right Matty?"

"Ya, that's what he told us."

"I see anything else?"

"Nothing, but there is always the classics."

"Look! Aunt Ginny, Uncle Harry, Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Eva, Isabelle, Catherine, Anne, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward are here." Curse Matty and his excellent eyesight, I wanted to spot them.

"There's Uncle George, Aunt Ariel and Polly." Finally something goes right for the victim a.k.a. me.

"It looks like we can go." Uncle Bill, obvious but you've got to love him.

First we went to Gringotts, and because of Uncle Bill's connections we were able to get in and out quickly. Then a conflict arouse. We kids wanted to go shopping by ourselves, but the adults wanted us to have an adult go with us. Finally we agreed to have Mom and Aunt Ariel come along.

"We should get your cauldrons first to carry everything in." Stupid, practical mom, I really wanted to get my wand but what she said made sense.

When no one made another suggestion we went of to get our standard size '2' pewter cauldron (the sales clerk was shocked when we wanted six of them). Next we got potion ingredients, our school books, brass scales, telescopes and we even got an owl for the six of us to use (Eva uses Hedwig, her family's owl). Mom seemed to be torturing me because next we went to get our robes.

"Oh my," asked the clerk, "are these two girls twins? They are almost exactly the same." She was referring to me and Polly.

"Nope, but their dads are," Aunt Ariel said. She glanced at mom and they both started laughing. I couldn't figure out what they were laughing at but the look on the clerk's face was pretty funny.

When she had calmed down enough to talk mom explained to the clerk that Polly and I were cousins and our fathers were twins. The clerk huffed and shooed us to the stool to be fitted. Apparently she didn't like being laughed at though because she kept her mouth shut from then on.

We were exiting the shop when Polly finally uttered the words I had wanted to hear all day, "Isn't all that is left wands?"

"Well I am sure there is something we could still look at," mom likes to think she is funny, which can be true but right now she so isn't, "but the wands are right here so we might as well go in."

Our cheering must have been heard in France we were so loud.

Mr. Ollivander's shop was a mess. Wands were everywhere and a large pile was growing in the centre of the room.

"One moment please, I have to help this customer," a voice said from behind the pile.

So Matty, Polly, Wolfgang, Catherine, Isabella, Eva, Mom, Aunt Ariel and I took a seat. In a few minutes the man, who must have been Ollivander, was finished with the other kid and came over to help us. Every one of the soon-to-be-Hogwarts students tried to look more noticeable. We all wanted to go first.

"What can I help you all with today?"

"These six need their wands," instructed Aunt Ariel.

"Ok, we need tape measures," Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands and six tape measures flew at us. Wolfgang was the luckiest because he started with him.

"Let's see you look like you'll need a, I have the perfect one!"

It took about 12 tries for the right wand to be found for Wolfgang. Then Polly, Catherine, me, Matty and lastly Eva stepped up to get our wands. It was so cool, we all got wands. Wolfgang's was 13½", oak with a dragon's heart string core. It was also very stable.

Polly's on the other hand was 10", made of olive wood and had a unicorn hair centre. Everyone liked hers second to their own. Catherine's was 11", willow, had a unicorn hair and was quite nimble. Eva's 13", maple, phoenix feathered wand looked delicate. Matty had a 12¾", fern wand with a phoenix feather. Mine, of course, was the best. It was 12¼" (yes, Matty does tease me that mine is shorter), and it was also made of fern but it has a dragon's heart string centre and it snaps around like a whip.

We all thanked Mr. Ollivander and went to dad and Uncle George's Joke shop to stock up for school.

* * *

Two weeks later, we were at platform 9 ¾ ready to board the train.

I was so embarrassed when mom gave me and Matty a big hug but I felt better when I saw Aunt Fleur's good-bye to Wolfgang. She cried, gave him a really soggy kiss and shooed him away in a really dramatic fashion.

When the whistle blew we all found a compartment to sit in together. As the train pulled out of the station we waved good-bye to our parents who we wouldn't see until Christmas. It was then we realized how much they meant to us and that we would miss them (even Jessie, our crazy neighbour).

The train ride went along relatively well. The good points were the food trolley, talking and laughing, meeting other young witches & wizards and the lack of parents. Bad points were that we were worried about how we would be sorted (they wouldn't tell us) and our cousins Terry and Cornelius were also on the train.

What? You don't know who they are? Well Terry is mean and Cornelius is stuck up.

The train stopped at last and the six of us piled out. Then we heard Hagrid, a good family friend, saying, "Firs' years, firs' years over here!" Hagrid was amazing over 70 years old and he was still games keeper/ Care of Magical Creatures (A/N: From now on known as CoMC).

We got into the boats. Matty, Polly and I were in one and Wolfgang, Eva and Catherine were in another. Terry must have been there somewhere, but I didn't know or care.

Paddling up to the castle was the most beautiful thing… EVER!

We finally got to the castle and Hagrid lead us into a room. Everyone was now really nervous about the sorting process but I didn't care, because I was at Hogwarts at Last!

* * *

Author's Notes

Just to let everyone know I wrote everything up to this point two or three years ago. This means two things. One: My writing style will likely be different in the next chapter (although I do have an old draft so it may be Chap 3 or 4 where the biggest change will occur). Two: Updates will be very slow in coming. Well that's it! See you later my fellow Harry Potter fans!

TTFN, Beebopd


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